Casey, Boccella lead Lansdale Catholic past Archbishop Carroll, to first-ever PCL title game
PHILADELPHIA >> Gabby Casey and Olivia Boccella were there for the lows, so they were going to be there leading Lansdale Catholic to a new height.
Their first year playing together — Casey a sophomore and Boccella a freshman — ended with a 2-11 record at Lansdale Catholic. Two years later, they were the top seed in the league and needed one more win to deliver the Crusaders to their first-ever berth in a PCL girls basketball title game, so once they got going, nothing was going to stop them.
LC’s core duo combined for 38 points as the No. 1 Crusaders downed No. 4 Archbishop Carroll 53-39 at St. Joe’s University City campus — once USciences — on Tuesday in the league semifinals.
“It’s great, we’ve got a great group of girls and everybody loves each other and has each other’s back,” Casey, who scored 18, said. “I think that’s really what pushes us, even when we’re down, and even when we’re up, just in all aspects together and just playing LC basketball, just nothing compares.”
Boccella was dazzling from deep, the junior hitting 5-of-7 from three-point range and scoring a game-high 20. From growing up going to PCL title games with her family — often watching the Archbishop Wood program that will be LC’s opponent next Monday — to now having a chance to play at the historic venue was a lot to take in.
“It feels great, not even to score, I don’t care how many points I had, just to win,” Boccella, gripping the game ball, said. “I’m so happy to have this win for the first time for the program. It feels incredible.
“That was crazy, that was one of the most memorable games of my lifetime. Getting to the Palesta was a dream of mine, I can’t believe it.”
For more than five minutes, the question wasn’t if LC was going to book its first trip to the Palestra, it was if the Crusaders were ever going to score. It took the Patriots five minutes themselves before Brooke Wilson ended the drought, then Boccella hit her first from long range but all the top seed had to show after eight minutes was two made baskets and a 9-5 deficit.
It didn’t get a lot better for half the second quarter, Carroll’s defense stalling up LC’s offense while the Patriots took a 14-9 lead on a three by freshman Alexis Eberz. Then, LC turned up its fullcourt defense, caused a couple turnovers and ran off a 14-2 run over the final four minutes to close the half. Even what looked like a botch, Boccella firing a heave way too early to beat the halftime horn, worked out as the long rebound came to Jaida Helm, who then buried a three of her own at the buzzer for a 23-16 lead.
“You’ll never meet 11 girls that are so different off the court,” LC coach Eric Gidney said. “We’ve got girls that are quiet and reserved off the court and they’re beasts on the court. There’s a really, really unique set of personalities here but when they come on the court, they just see that they’re all wearing the same uniform, that they’re teammates.”
While Carroll hadn’t closed the first half strong, it did open the second half on fire. Senior Taylor Wilson, trying to lead her team back to the Palestra after falling to Cardinal O’Hara there in last year’s final, ripped off seven straight points in about 90 seconds, the last on a three that tied the score 23-23.
LC found itself clinging to a 25-24 lead when Boccella popped up a couple steps past the top of the arc, caught a kick-out pass from Sanyiah Littlejohn and let fly for the opening of her second half light-the-scoreboard show. Two minutes later, a defender stumbling in front of her, Boccella spun in the corner and let fly again, her second three of the quarter staking LC to a five-point lead that proved big as Carroll clipped the lead to 34-30 going to the fourth quarter.
“I was just trying to go one play at a time,” Boccella said. “I tried to play within the team, move the ball and my shots just luckily fell, thankfully.”
It’s a bit more than that, but the junior isn’t one to brag about herself too much. That’s OK though, she has her teammates on the LC soccer team to do that for her, the team Twitter account actively posting about each and every one of her shots during the game.
None were bigger than the three she hit from the right corner and directly in front of her bench off an extra pass by Nadia Yemola to open the fourth quarter. Her fifth and final three of the night put LC ahead 37-30 with 7:11 to play and by the time she converted three the more traditional way four minutes later, the lead had expanded to 43-31.
“I was able to read the transition, every time I would call for the ball, they would find me,” Boccella said. “Even if they didn’t find me, I’d be cutting and it opened up space for them.
“It’s not just me. We’re always trying to move the ball across the court, switch the floor and I think it just helped us open up the floor and score more.”
Taylor Wilson finished with 16 points, netting 14 in the second half. Brooke Wilson had 12 points and the freshman Eberz tallied nine for Carroll, which will play in a District 12 seeding game for the PIAA 6A tournament.
Casey did the bulk of her damage with eight second quarter points but the senior did finish with a flourish, scoring five points in the fourth quarter capped with a dynamic move down the lane for a 51-33 lead that came with a minute left. That basket was the sealer, LC pulling its starting five who closed the game locking arms on the bench awaiting the final buzzer.
Boccella has PCL title game experience against Archbishop Wood, albeit in the fall for soccer, but the prestige of the Palestra is entirely unique. Even Casey, soon to be playing at the other St. Joe’s campus – the one at Hawk Hill – admitted Monday’s game is going to feel very, very different.
“We adjust very well, but we’re all nervous because this is the first time we’ve been in this position,” Casey said. “I think just ultimately being there for each other and just supporting each other and just channeling everybody out in the crowd and just working, just us five on the floor is really what we’ve got to stay to.”
Lansdale Catholic 53, Archbishop Carroll 39
Lansdale Catholic 5 18 11 19 — 53
Archbishop Carroll 9 7 14 9 — 39
LC: Jaida Helm 2 6-8 11, Sanyiah Littlejohn 1 0-0 2, Olivia Boccella 7 1-1 20, Gabby Casey 7 4-6 18, Alana Ciccocelli 0 2-2 2. Totals: 17 13-17 5
AC: Courtland Schumacher 1 0-0 2, Brooke Wilson 4 4-7 12, Alexis Eberz 3 2-2 9, Taylor Wilson 6 2-3 16. Totals: 14 8-12 39
3-pointers; LC – Boccella 5, Helm; AC – T Wilson 2, Eberz.
